When she sat down to eat her vegetable stew, made with much love and care, she realized, even with the first bite, what she did not enjoy was bland food. She grimaced as she brought the next bite to her mouth. She was only saved from finishing her poorly made meal by the sound of rain pattering on her tin roof. Her ears immediately perked up at the sound as dancing in the warm summer rain was one of Aisen’s favorite passtimes. In a gleeful mood she bolted from her chair, leaving behind the already lukewarm meal, and rushed to the door, anxious to get out amongst the falling droplets, but instead of endless hills basking under a summer sun intermittently broken by pregnant clouds she found herself staring at the back of a mountain.

    Well, a man in the shape of a mountain.

    Standing well over six feet tall, the stranger filled the entire doorway with his mass. He wore plain attire, but she could tell by the way it lazily rested on his bulging lats and shoulders that the clothes had been tailor made.

     “A noble, either well versed in the customs of the common folk or perhaps from a fallen house”, she thought to herself. “Either way, trouble.”

     He had his back to her, muttering to himself in a soft voice, obviously giving himself a pep talk. It wasn't long before he turned suddenly, courage gauge fully filled, and brought his hand up to knock on the door. His face distorted in confusion as instead of a wooden barrier he found himself staring into a charmingly cozy cottage replete with a merrily cackling fire and the welcoming smells of warming vegetables. He was so stunned that it took him a full minute before he noticed the five foot nothing person standing before him.

    “Uh… hello.” He started but was abruptly halted by the wooden door slamming in his face, mere inches from his nose and his knuckles.

    Aisen, unperturbed, returned to her meager meal, compelling herself to finish her lackluster dinner despite its lack of flavors. She ignored the gentle rappings that grew increasingly desperate as the evening wore on. When night had finally encumpassed the entire hillside on which she lived, Aisen tucked herself into an early bed, comforted by the realization that the knocking had finally ceased and she was once again alone.

    The next day rose with its usual flair. The plentiful clouds basked in the majesty of the rainbow of light dispersed by the rising sun. An orchestra of woodland creatures, recently roused from their rest, busied themselves procuring their base necessities of food, water, and warmth. The picturesque hillside enlivened stirring Aisen from her peaceful slumber. As she stretched and yawned, she took a moment to take in the peaceful sounds of her isolated abode. The birds were chirping happily as they greedily gobbled the dew drawn worms. The squirrels chittered merrily as they stuffed their cheeks with well gotten nuts and berries. There was one sound, though, that felt so out of place that her crested smile sunk below the horizon of her lips with each iteration of its notes.

     It was like a saw being drawn across the trunk of a tree or a boulder rolling down a mountainside. The sound grated on Aisen's nerves until her hands, which were reaching towards the sky in ecstasy, clasp about her steepled ears in an attempt to drown it out. She wrenched off her covers and stormed toward her entryway, desperate to find the source of the discordant noise, and yanked open her door with such force that it slammed against the wall behind it.

    The door clashed with the wooden wall with a loud crash waking the ogre of a man who had been sleeping soundly on the other side.  

     “My…my lady!”. He stuttered, quickly recovering from his rude awakening. “I implore you to give me a moment of your…”

     Aisen shut the door as quickly and forcefully as she had opened it. Harmony restored, now that the jarring clamor had been alleviated, she merrily went about her morning task as if nothing had even happened. It wasn't until she went to draw water from the well for her noon day bath that she was reminded of her unsolicited visitor. 

    She crept up to the door like a cat crept up to a precariously place glass, hoping whoever he was had given up his quest and gone home but knowing that life was never that easy. When she soundlessly slid the door open, only a sliver wide to allow her eye a peak, she found the man sitting in a meditative position, unperturbed by the creeping chill of twilight.

     “I respect your privacy.” The man said without opening his eyes. She must not have been as silent as she had thought and inwardly cursed her creaking floorboards and rusted hinges as she began to slowly re-close the door. “Even such, my query is paramount and requires me to disturb your solitude.” The man continued, bowing his kneeling form until his forehead touched the ground. “For this I must ask your pardon.” She realized she had paused in the measured sealing of the opening she had created, curious as to what could drive the man to sit outside her door for such a length of time. Eventually her anxiety of being drawn into civilization’s cruelty overrode her curiosity and the door shut with a satisfying click.

    The next day thunder shook the foundation of the little cottage that Aisen called home. She awoke with such a fright she couldn't tell if she'd had a nightmare or if her home were actually under attack. For some reason her first thought was of the welfare of her unwanted guest. She made no secret this time of scrambling across the floor and throwing open the door to find him trembling amidst the waterfall of down pouring rain. 

    She had a tough choice between her solitude and the plight of the man who stood before her, but hearing the clattering chomps of the mountain’s teeth and the concerning shaking of his body, like a volcano prior to eruption, she knew she could ignore the problem no longer. She gracefully lifted the lumbering bulk with the help of an anti gravity bracelet she wore on her wrist. It was one of her earlier creations but its uses were so plentiful that it'd become one of her everyday accessories. He did not protest to her helping him up and into one of the comfortable arm chairs that lined the dining table, which had seen very few butts during its tenure within her home.

     As she helped him along, with little to no effort on her part thanks to her accentuating accessory, Aisen couldn't help the string of expletives that invaded her thoughts, but as she maneuvered him into his chair with ease another thought occurred to her. Here was an excellent subject in need of her distinct skill. A subject who was in no position to say no to a few test.

    A test subject if you will.

    Aisen smiled. Titanias shivered.

*Aisen is an expert at ignoring things that bothered her.

*I know I'm supposed to update every weds and fri, but I couldn't wait.  I'm so excited for you guys to read this so here's a present!